BK3 for Camping

zfJames

zfJames

Joined
Dec 6, 2017
Messages
273
Hey guys! Haven't posted anything in a while, but once Kabar's website started nailing itself to my 'Top Sites' page, I decided it was time for another thread.

I'm trying to justify buying a Becker BK3 (since I'll be going on a backpacking trip sometime in the near future), so here's my question: How many of you have used a Becker BK3 for camping? How many of you would recommend it for camping? More importantly, what did you use it for when you took it camping?

More broadly, what do you use your BK3 for (besides tearing down cars)? Admittedly, this was asked earlier in 2014, but I haven't found any more recent threads and I'd be really interested to hear what you've done with the good ol' BK3 since then.
 
Never taken a BK3 camping.
I usually use my 16.
If I need something bashier, the 9 or 20 would suffice. Those, and the three, are more than I'd want to backpack with.

Friend brings a Camillus Carnivore X camping.
She mostly bashes and hacks at stuff without doing any actual work. Not that there's anything wrong with that!
One day, after a 10 mile hike up 2000 ft, 4 people spent an hour taking turns hacking and sawing at a 4" wet pine branch with it. Made some dents, but never went through.
I attacked the same branch with the saw in my Farmer SAK. Had 2 pieces of wood in about 10 minutes.

Long story short - fun to carry, neat conversation piece. Not a terribly useful tool out in the woods.
Yes, I'm lumping the BK3 and the Carnivore together. Becker is better steel, and hopefully sharper. Camillus is a bit longer.
Just one man's opinion, though.
 
Sounds like you want to buy a BK3 and use back pack camping as the basis.

Though I am far from an expert, a BK3 would not be my first choice for camping, or my second or third choice - to say nothing of backpacking!

I do like the BK4 and it certainly can do a lot - punching above its weight; but weight is weight so choose wisely.
 
zfJames said:
I probably should clarify that I’m NOT planning on using my BK3 as a machete (although that’s a good idea—now I’m going to have to find a Becker Machaxe...).
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The 9 like the one above will do the job as well and easy enough to fine :thumbsup:
 
SALTY said:
Sounds like you want to buy a BK3 and use back pack camping as the basis.

Though I am far from an expert, a BK3 would not be my first choice for camping, or my second or third choice - to say nothing of backpacking!

I do like the BK4 and it certainly can do a lot - punching above its weight; but weight is weight so choose wisely.
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That's exactly what I was trying to do, but, after the posts here, and my research, I've decided that the BK2 is probably the smarter choice. On that note, is the BK2's standard sheath usable, or is it as bad as the BK7/BK9 sheath?

Tanker 1/66 said:
The Warrior The Warrior Your Beckerhead number should have been 9!!!! :D Maybe Guyon will relinquish it to ya.
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Tanker 1/66 said:
Hey I just noticed that your approaching 20K post The Warrior The Warrior
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Second both of the posts above! :)

Tanker 1/66 said:
zfJames zfJames Remember this golden rule when planning a climb or hike.Ounces lead to Pounds and Pounds lead to Pain
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True, which is why, if I was REALLY worried about weight, I'd get a BK10 or a BK16. My philosophy on weight while hiking (knife/tool weight at least) is that if you're not strong enough to carry it when you start, you will be by the end of your trip. :D
 
The BK 9 is a good substitute for a BK 4 for general use if you can't find a BK 4.

The Thumb Ramp on the BK 9 does get in the way for finer work I found but work around able a bit.

BK 2 is a good general purpose knife to get! No Thumb Ramp and tough as heck! A Baco Saw or even a light Brush Saw is also a wise thing to take. Also taking a multi tool and a good folding knife also would be a good idea for finer work.
 
I do believe that the BK3, and BK2 would be my last choices in the entire Becker lineup for backpacking. They'd be good choices for other things of course, but for how I backpack, they would be less than ideal.

For the weight of just the BK2, I can bring a BK9, and a mora. With that combo i can carve, batton, and chop better than the BK2 alone as well.

Even better?

Bring a small folding saw and a BK16 or BK10. The saw is faster, safer, and uses less energy to cut though anything bigger than about wrist /forearm size. The BK16/10/mora can easily baton that size wood if needed, and that combo weighs less as well.

Myself? On my last hike i did 28 miles in a single day (3 consecutive expected water sources being dried up on the last half of the hike made us finish the loop a day early where we knew water was). I carried my BK16, and my buddy and I shared one folding saw between us, which we didn't end up using this trip. They usually get used with my emberlit stove, but this time we used an alcohol stove, so it wasn't needed.
 
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